The Senate cancels the vote of no confidence and ratifies Sweden, Finland’s accession
The Diplomat
The Senate yesterday approved the amendment of the Organic Law of the General Electoral Regime (LOREG) to facilitate voting for Spaniards living abroad and ratified the accession of Sweden and Finland to NATO.
With the reform of LOREG, which was previously approved by Congress last June 9 with a very large majority, it puts an end to the judicial vote, which has been in place since 2011. The initiative stems from a bill presented in February 2021 by the Socialist Group and the Unidas Podemos-En Comú Podem-Galicia en Común confederal parliamentary group. With this reform, according to the government, it will no longer be necessary for Spaniards living abroad to explicitly state their will to vote. It will be the administration itself, ex officio, that will send the electoral documentation to all persons registered in the census of foreigners, who will also be able to download and print their ballots.
On the other hand, the House of Commons yesterday approved the signing of the protocols to the North Atlantic Treaty on the accession of Sweden and Finland to NATO, almost a week after both texts were approved by Congress with the positive votes of PSOE, Partido Popular, Vox, Ciudadanos, PNV, PDeCat and JxCAT and abstaining from the government’s other partner, Unidas Podemos, as well as the Minister of Consumer Affairs and Federal Coordinator of the IU, Alberto Garzón.
None of the parties that voted no in Congress are represented in the upper house, as is Unidas Podemos. Therefore, the text went ahead with a very large majority of votes in favor. In the Senate, the representatives of the ERC, Bildu and some parties from the Izquierda Conferedral (Más Madrid, Compromís and Més) abstained. Swedish Foreign Minister Anna Linde has thanked “Spain for the ratification”, as has the Finnish Ministry of Foreign Affairs. The US embassy has welcomed this “important step for the alliance”.
The two countries’ entry into NATO was agreed at the end of June, during the Alliance Summit in Madrid. The permanent representatives of the 30 allies (including Spain) signed the accession protocols of the two countries on July 5 in Brussels, after which they must be ratified by the parliaments of all NATO member states. So far, 24 of the 30 allied countries have already done so, following ratification by the US Congress on August 9 and by the two chambers of the Spanish Parliament.